Humboldt, Saskatchewan's Jerry Engele was born on November 26, 1950 and went on to play for the Minnesota North Stars in the NHL.

A defenseman, he spent five seasons of junior hockey with the Saskatoon Blades then turned professional in the Eastern Hockey League in 1971-72 with the St. Petersburg Suns. Engele spent four seasons in the minors before he was signed to an NHL deal with the North Stars in June of 1975.

In '75-'76, he played 17 games with Minnesota, managing one assist. The majority of his season was spent with the North Stars farm team in New Haven. The next two years, Engele increased his NHL appearances, playing 31 games in 1976-77 and 52 the next year. His best season in terms of offensive output was the '76-'77 campaign, when he scored his first NHL goal and added seven assists.

In September 1978 his rights were transferred to the Montreal Canadiens organization as compensation for the North Stars signing of free agent Mike Polich. Engele was unable to crack the Canadiens deep blue line, and spent the year with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs.

He left the game as a player following that year and returned to the Saskatoon Blades to serve as the team's coach.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1966-67

Saskatoon Blades

CMJHL

54

1

9

10

162

7

0

0

0

0

1967-68

Saskatoon Blades

WCJHL

58

0

11

11

153

7

1

1

2

15

1968-69

Saskatoon Blades

WCJHL

52

0

9

9

155

4

0

0

0

0

1969-70

Saskatoon Blades

WCJHL

36

0

7

7

164

5

0

2

2

29

1970-71

Saskatoon Blades

WCJHL

63

2

21

23

181

1971-72

St. Petersburg Suns

EHL

72

6

16

22

110

6

1

1

2

19

1972-73

Sun Coast Suns

EHL

72

7

33

40

171

5

1

0

1

8

1973-74

Saginaw Gears

IHL

71

1

27

28

150

13

2

5

7

10

1974-75

New Haven Nighthawks

AHL

75

1

21

22

182

9

0

3

3

44

1975-76

Minnesota North Stars

NHL

17

0

1

1

16

-12

1975-76

New Haven Nighthawks

AHL

58

1

20

21

232

3

1

0

1

6

1976-77

Minnesota North Stars

NHL

31

1

7

8

41

+3

2

0

1

1

0

1976-77

New Haven Nighthawks

AHL

52

2

10

12

84

1977-78

Minnesota North Stars

NHL

52

1

5

6

105

-10

1977-78

Fort Worth Texans

CHL

3

0

0

0

2

1978-79

Nova Scotia Voyageurs

AHL

75

4

24

28

186

9

0

2

2

13

1979-80

Saskatoon Blades

WHL

NHL Totals

100

2

13

15

162

2

0

1

1

0

Signed as a free agent by Minnesota, June, 1975. Transferred to Montreal by Minnesota as compensation for Minnesota's signing of free agent Mike Polich, September 6, 1978.